Hitherto, 2P method has been known as a typical process for producing optical recording media, i.e., optical disks. The 2P method has the steps of preparing a flat plate such as of glass (referred to as a "flat substrate", hereinafter), filling the gap between the flat substrate and a stamper with a photo-curable resin that can be cured by energy of light rays such as ultraviolet rays, and irradiating the resin with ultraviolet rays thereby curing the resin.
An example of such a 2P method is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 53-86756. The art disclosed in this patent publication uses a mold which is formed from nickel by electroforming (the term "mold" is used to mean a member equivalent to a stamper, throughout the specification). A pattern is transferred from this mold to a flat substrate made of polymethylmethacrylate, polycarbonate or the like, by means of a resin curable by ultraviolet rays.
In the meantime, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-62254 discloses a method which uses a mold made of silicon. In this method, a pattern composed of convexities and concavities is formed in a silicon wafer mold by etching, and this pattern is transferred to a flat substrate by means of a resin curable with ultraviolet rays.
It has been a common practice that, in carrying out these known methods, different steps of each method such as bonding of the ultraviolet-rays-curable resin and the substrate, expose, and separation are performed at different places.
Execution of different steps at different places require transportation of the substrate and the mold which consumed time to impair the efficiency of production. Unfortunately, however, the above-mentioned two patent publications fail to disclose any practical form of production apparatus which would enable efficient production.
Two types of approaches are conceivable towards a through process for producing optical disks by using 2P method: one is to produce the disks by moving the mold, while the other is to keep the mold stationed during the production of the disks. Considering that the mold is a precisely-finished part to require a considerable time for transportation, it is considered to be a better policy that the production apparatus is designed to keep the mold stationary.